It has been a few months since B’s encounter on the HMS Belfast and the Board and she is losing patience and becoming bored. After the death of her artist friend Jonathan from the hordes of London’s undead, B took on the task of keeping his artwork safe and sorting them out. But she wants more from her role as an Angel. She often wonders if there is more or is Dr. Oystein trusting enough of her to give her more of a role.

During a soccer match between herself and fellow Angels, suddenly herself and her fellow room mates are called on for their first Angel mission. To escort some humans to a compound or a community for the living.

The mission and travelling through the treacherous streets of London seems to go off smoothly but soon they meet up with some more survivors in Hammersmith looking to make their way to the compound as well. As well as B meeting up with an old friend and her first interaction with someone from her past life.

Travelling to the compound, the group encounters what other dangers could be out there apart from zombies. Like wildlife.

When they finally arrive to the compound, they are welcomed with caution but allowed to be given a tour. While being walked around they encounter racist and bigoted people, bring B back to the days of her abusive father. The Angels are also told that the people in the compound are not the only ones out there, that there are bigoted people out there, waiting for their revolution and re-build the world to suit their ways.

The Angels mission suddenly turns into a rescue mission. One that is extremely personal for B and could open up old mental wounds but maybe the killer inside her is perfect for their new mission.

I liked book seven particularly for the fact that we change location. Being in City Hall and exploring the ruins of London is fascinating because you can’t imagine London other than busy and full of activity, not in ruins. But when we are taken out of the London bubble and out into the countryside then we see how exactly the survivors are trying to survive.

The scene where the bird comes and encounters one of the children is probably a frightening scene for me but it makes the struggle of the survivors seem more real, that they are so exposed at all times, no matter what they do or how safe they think they are.

And the fact that once again, the racism card comes into a major play, which includes one of the biggest racist cult of all time makes it more real. That just because we are in the zombie apocalypse, doesn’t mean that everyday things and people’s disgusting attitudes evaporate. What is meant to be surviving together for a better day, still becomes the so called survival of the fittest among the living.

Again, Darren Shan just doesn’t fail to entice and en-capture his readers. Not only is he weaving the story and filling in gaps regarding the survivors but he is giving this group of Angels more confidence in themselves to complete missions but know that their missions don’t just end when the orders are finished but when they feel they have done their parts as Angels.

Alice in Zombieland is the first book of ‘The White Rabbit Chronicles’ by Gena Showalter.

The story begins with Alice Bell on her sixteenth birthday. Being pestered by her eight year old sister Emma to persuade their mother to ask their slightly paranoid father to attend a dance recital. Their father has always made his feelings known about his family being outside of the house after dark as his fear of the same ‘monsters’ that killed his own father had escalated over the years. Finally he agrees for his family to attend a normal school function for the first time in sixteen years.

However coming towards the end of the night, Alice’s father’s psychosis escalates. Her mother insists on driving the car the long way home to try and calm her husband down but it is Alice’s words that persuades them to drive past the cemetery despite her father’s frantic protests. There, in front of the hallowed ground of the cemetery, Alice’s life is turned upside down. Literally. The family car becomes involved in a horrific accident where all of Alice’s family die. All except Alice.

And it’s at the site of the accident that Alice gets her first look and understanding of the ‘monsters’ that plagued her father.

After the decision of letting her live with her grandparents and meeting a girl named Kat as she recovered in hospital, Alice, now going by the name of Ali, is ready for a new start in her new school Asher High. Go Tigers!

Until she meets Cole Holland.

Cole Holland and his gang of boys are the bad boys of the school. Known for getting into trouble around the town, where some of their close friends have even ended up dead. And yet once Alice and Cole’s eyes connect, they are instantly drawn into one another. And Alice knows that there is more to Cole then meets the eye. With constant signs and weird coincidences from Cole and his friends , Alice finally meets her monsters.

Zombies.

From yet another near death experience, Alice’s inner spirit is awoken and she can finally come to terms and understand the turmoil in which her father had suffered all those years. But even apart from the raging battles to ensue with the zombies, Alice has to compete against another enemy as well as taking criticism for her own unique abilities.

So much for a fresh start.

I really loved this book, more than I really anticipated that I would. So many reasons why it was such a brilliant book to dive into and not stop reading.

For starters the humor between friends and even enemies is amazing. It’s like sitting through your own banter filled feuds with your best friends. Alice as a main character especially doesn’t need much prompting with her quick witted statements. And she is so confident as a main character that you can follow her and her journey with such ease. Sometimes there are main characters who are action-ish but they need the support from the sub-characters. Alice doesn’t. Even Cole, initially thought of as a antagonist, he is every good girl’s bad boy.

Then there is the zombies. Now we all know our average zombie types. Rotting flesh. Hungry for brains. Slow movements. Gena Showalter has taken those misconceptions of these normally cast aside beings and made them into something that can finally class them as evil monsters. These zombie aren’t just a decomposing corpse that has risen from the grave. These zombies are infected spirits. Twice as dangerous, twice as evil and twice as organized. Fast, capable of hunting in large packs. These zombies have never been seen before in any fiction book that I have certainly read.

When I first picked up this book, I honestly didn’t know what I expected. To be honest I was expecting another version of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ as everyone knows and loves it, except it would be packed into the weird part of Alice’s mind. A Wonderland full of zombies. But that’s what instantly made me fall in love with this book as well, was the fact that we weren’t thrown into some bizarre Wonderland. The only reference to ‘Alice in Wonderland’ was the fact that there is a sign to Alice that appears. It’s a white cloud shaped like a rabbit. And we all know that Alice followed the white rabbit into her wonderland, into danger.

It is definitely a book to pick up if you’re a zombie fanatic at the moment. Seeing as zombies are the ‘in’ thing this year. But not only should you read it for the kick ass zombies in it but there is also an element of a possible love story blooming. But I like the fact that it is not your mushy, ‘Twilight’, oh-I-can’t-live-without-you type of love. It is normal teenage love. It’s raw with genuine and passionate emotions, lined with jealous and dipped with resistance to not fit in and fall for a stereotype.

So go out and grab ‘Alice in Zombieland’ by Gena Showalter, embark on a longing for a fresh start that turns into a different new beginning of epic proportions. And plus you would be nice and ready and chomping at the bit (or arm) for book 2 of the White Rabbit Chronicles coming in September of this year, ‘Through the Zombie Glass’

So for every month, I am going to try and recommend either booktube channels (book reviews on Youtube) or book review blogs and try and get people some well deserved views or new fans. It’s the least I could do as I know how tough it is to get youtube followers or blog followers.

So for the month of May, I am recommending to you a booktube channel. The users are Mary-Kate and Niamh, two friends from Northern Ireland who are big bookaholics. They are fairly new when it comes to booktubing as the channel was only set up around the end of March, beginning of April but I know Niamh through Derek Landy’s blog and she has such a love and flair for books. I can only assume that Mary-Kate has that same passion which is exactly what you need for a good booktube channel. There’s no point setting up a channel if you don’t love what you’re doing on it.

So the girls will be doing book reviews, reactions to movie trailers that are coming out (book related) and they will be posting when it comes to author events or signings. So I have a feeling that this channel will be packed full with everything a bookworm could ever hope for. I expect big things from these two girlies and I know that they will not disappoint.

Also I should mention that this channel isn’t just about the girls as they encourage and are welcome to all suggestions for books or movie trailers or movies. Just have to leave a comment on one of their videos or you can contact them through their twitters or the booktube’s tumblr account. They have all their contact details on their channel page.

So please give the girls a bit of support. Either subscribe to their channel, like and share a video and be involved in the new form of book reviews that is taking Youtube by storm.

So click the smaller ‘I Recommend’ link under the title and go and enjoy the channel!

The Demonata is the second series of books to come from the Master of Horror, Mr.Darren Shan. It brings together the characters of Grubbs Grady, Kernal Fleck and Bec MacConn over the 10 books as they all battle with inner curses, demons and the one constant evil that will not leave them alone. The demon master, Lord Loss.

I got my first Demonata book ‘Lord Loss’ during the summer of 2005. And since it was released in June of 2005, the cover was probably the very first cover for ‘Lord Loss’. Then for the Christmas of 2005, I got book two ‘Demon Thief’. Again, it was only released in the October time so it was the first cover for ‘Demon Thief’.

So then yesterday (30th of April 2013) Darren posted on his Facebook page that The Demonata is having a 2013 makeover. Yes, updated covers! Now there has been different covers for The Demonata as they were released to different countries but this decision for updated covers came from Darren’s publishers, HaprerCollins. They must have thought that the original covers weren’t appealing enough for today’s audience. Maybe kids aren’t as phased by book covers as they used to be or parents aren’t as overcautious when buying their kids books. So here are the new updated covers!

Now aren’t they just awesome!!

I will have to admit I am so blown away with these new covers that I just have the sudden need to go out and buy them. But then again, I would feel really guilty if I did because my whole series are the original covers and I hold them dear to me, especially since my ‘Bec’ is signed by Darren.

But they are really impressive. And the books aren’t disappointing either! They do exactly as they say on the cover. It’s just demons, demons and more demons, all that your little tainted hearts could desire.

And if you want to stay in touch or follow the updates from the author himself as he journeys on with his new series ‘Zom-b’ or first views of the new Demonata covers or anything else, here are all the links you need.

The Maleficent Seven has been dubbed as book 7.5 among the Skulduggery fandom, simply because it is released between book seven ‘The Kingdom of the Wicked’ and book eight ‘Last Stand of Dead Men’ in the series Skulduggery Pleasant. But this novella (shorter then a novel, longer than a short story) has nothing to do with the mother series. And yet it has some nice ties to the main series also.

This novella is based around a now evil Tanith Low. She was a good guy and a really kick ass good guy until the explosive events of book five ‘Mortal Coil’ turned Tanith’s world upside down as well as causing distraught to some of her best friends. Now as a bad guy, Tanith is out on the hunt to retrieve a set of four weapons named ‘The God Killers’. Her new inner conscious has seen the coming of Darquesse, a being more powerful than any the magical world has encountered before and has been seen destroying the planet. And Tanith wants to make sure that there is nothing left to kill Darquesse, Tanith wants to see this destructive being destroy the world.

So Tanith, along with her new sociopath boyfriend Billy-Ray Sanguine, decide to recruit a team of villains to retrieve these God killing weapons. A team of seven. Included in that team are many of the villains that have appeared in the mother series including Spring Heeled Jack and Dusk. Also new to the team are Black Annis and Sabine, a magical con-artist. Oh… wait that’s only six? Well the seventh member is a secret 🙂

But little does Tanith know that trailing behind her are a group of seven Sanctuary agents, looking for the God Killers as well. Among this team of good guys are Dexter Vex and Saracen Rue, members of the Dead Men. There is Frightening Jones, Aurora Jane, Wilhelm Scream and a pair called the Monster Hunters, Gracious O’Callaghan and Donegan Bane. The good guys are on a mission to obtain the God Killers and have them locked and ready for when Darquesse makes her appearance.

So now, not only is Tanith Low battling with her fellow team mates cause you really can’t team up bad guys without them all feeling the need to kill one another, but she is now in a race to get the weapons before the good guys do.

Like the seven other Derek Landy books that came before ‘The Maleficent Seven’ was even a twinkle in Derek’s eye, this one was packed full with witty comments, banter between all the characters and action scenes packed so tightly that you can feel yourself catching your breath. And even though the two main protagonists that are Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain are not in this book, you still are given those smart alack quick witted statements thrown in by the likes of Dexter Vex or Saracen Rue who would have been around Skulduggery while they were all part of the Dead Men.

What I liked about the book, is not only have we got this great race between two teams and Tanith who is so thorough with her plans and operations but we also get the story behind Tanith Low which includes her almost near death scene from book one! When you read it, you see how that scene in particular ties into the book now. But in the other books, the fans never knew much about Tanith’s background, how she is as skillful as she is. All we have ever really known is that she has a brother. But now, Derek has been kind enough to offer this information to all his fans and make Tanith’s background a bit more clearer so us all.

OH!! You need to watch out for a tiny sentence in this book. It is between Saracen and Aurora. He say’s ‘We might die tonight.’ and just read what happens after. It is so… self explanatory to an already tainted mind such as myself and many other of the minions (Derek Landy fans)

I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would. As a character, I liked Tanith when she was a good guy but I wasn’t exactly crazy for her. I preferred the likes of China Sorrows but Tanith as a bad guy has raised my expectations of the character so high because she is so suited to the role of a bad guy. You almost start to wonder if she already had this level of evil locked away inside her but was never given that chance to release it properly. Plus at the end, there is a bit of an ‘oh my god’ moment that you have to sit and think what the whole plot was in aid of really.

So all in all, the novella was a great success as us minions wait in anxiousness to the bloody carnage that is waiting for us as Mr. Landy is locked away in his man cave, writing and finishing book 8 ‘Last Stand of Dead Men’. This is the penultimate book of the Skulduggery Pleasant series and he has already warned us of so many deaths. There will be a lot of broken hearts when this book comes out. So I guess ‘The Maleficent Seven’ was to tide the fans over so they wouldn’t eventually storm the house of Derek Landy.

I have never tried to do a book blog before. And I’ve been an avid reader for eleven years!

So now that I am into this whole blogging world, I’ve decided to start and see how well I can do and what everyone else thinks about how I do. I have always been trying to do so much with blogs before but then it would all become too much and I would end up falling behind on everything.

So I picked one thing to focus on at the moment and that is my books. As I said, I’ve been a avid reader since I was about twelve. And now in my early twenties, my book collection has just grown with ease and now my new books are piling up quickly as the authors are becoming more efficient in spitting out books.

They seriously need to stop writing books to give me a chance to at least catch up on plot lines or something. Common courtesy, really.

So this blog is all about books. Books I buy, books I’ve read, books I want to read, book signings, book/author events, book review YouTube channels… I think you get the idea. But that is basically all I will be concentrating on as it just seems that my attention span has an awful dose of stage fright.

So I hope you enjoy and I’m always here to listen to suggestions of books or if people have a different view or opinion on any of the books I review. Just remember to leave a comment, I’ll always see it.